Jack's Back (1988) starring James Spader and Cynthia Gibb

For a little over three months in 1888, the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper stalked the East End of London, murdering five women. The killer was never caught, and the mystery intrigues armchair sleuths to this day. 100 years after Saucy Jack’s reign of terror, a copycat killer is piling up victims in Los Angeles and the cops are baffled. Could it be John Wesford (James Spader), the nice doctor who works at the clinic headed by abusive jerk Dr. Tannerson?

When a clinic patient turns up butchered, Wesford becomes the prime suspect, and the case is closed when he dies in an apparent suicide. But, what’s this? John has a bad-boy twin named Rick (also Spader), who sports an earring, has a scar on his face, and had a vision of his twin brother being murdered!

Rick’s amateur sleuthing complicates things for the police (including the always great Chris Mulkey) but also sets him up as a possible suspect—even though they’ve already assumed John was the killer. Teaming up with John’s colleague Dr. Christine Moscari (Cynthia Gibb), Rick sets out to avenge his brother’s death and prove his innocence.

The directorial debut of Rowdy Herrington (whose sophomore effort would be the incredible ROAD HOUSE), JACK’S BACK is a bit of a mess that’s saved in large part by Spader (no surprise that Herrington worked with him two more times). The “copycat Jack the Ripper” angle gets tossed early on and anyone with half a brain will ID the killer the moment they appear. Still, the performance shows why Spader has been a mainstay of film and television for the last four decades. — Dan Taylor